The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – Taylor Lautner on being the new Hollywood guy

With the third installment of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse coming out on June 30, there’s talk already about the fourth and final sequel called, Breaking Dawn, in the astoundingly successful series.

In the second half of our interview with Taylor Lautner, who plays werewolf Jacob Black, the actor talks about the next movie, his friendship with co-stars Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen) and Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan) and other films he has coming up.

For Breaking Dawn, is it going to be one movie from Jacob’s perspective and one from Edward’s?

I don’t know that. I do know that it will be two movies, which I’m extremely excited about. Bill Condon is directing both. It’s going to be exciting. I can’t wait to work with him.

Are you happy it’s going to be two films?

I think that was definitely the right thing to do. It’s hard enough to break down 500-plus pages into a 110 or 120 page script, but this one is 800 pages and there’s just so much going on with the Wolf Pack and the baby. There’s a lot of stuff, so to condense that into one film would have been a challenge. I’m very excited that it’s two. I’m looking forward to it.

How do you think you’ll approach the romantic triangle in that film?

I really haven’t started thinking about it too much. Right now, we’re focusing on Eclipse coming out, so we’re promoting that. And after that, I’m focusing on Abduction. And then, after that will be Breaking Dawn. I’m sure as soon as we meet with Bill, further on down the road, we will go towards that. That will be interesting, for sure.

Have you talked to Bill Condon yet?

I have only met Bill once, and very briefly, so we have not had time to discuss it. He seems like a very nice guy and, obviously, he’s extremely talented. I think whatever comes our way, he’s going to deal with it fine. I’m looking forward to talking to him, for sure.

Do you think the Wolf Pack might end up doing a musical number with Bill Condon (who directed Dreamgirls)?

I think he already released a statement promising there would be no musical number in the films. That was funny!

How much does your friendship with Rob and Kristen mean to you?

It means everything. I can’t imagine filming this franchise, if the whole cast weren’t so close as friends. It would be a nightmare. Rob and Kristen and myself are really close and it helps a lot because, when you’re filming, you can be open and honest with each other and discuss things. It just makes the filming process a lot easier.

When we’re promoting, and even when you’re not doing anything, but just hanging out on the weekends, it’s great. They’re incredible people and very talented. We will definitely maintain a friendship, for a very long time past the franchise, so it’s extremely important to me.

You’re the new Hollywood guy. What has that been like, from your point of view?

I don’t know about that, but it’s exciting. This franchise has been such an incredible platform. It’s amazing. I’m so thankful for this franchise and the opportunity. I’ve had the time of my life the last two years, and I‘m just so thankful to be in this position now.

I’m having fun making movies. It’s great. I’ve met a lot of cool new people and had the opportunity to work with a lot of new talented people and amazing is the best word for it.

Do you have an entourage?

I wouldn’t say so. I’ve got a couple of people who are friends.

How do you choose your projects now?

It’s kind of a gut instinct. It’s whatever I’d want to watch. You read a lot of scripts and, whenever you can finish one, you really love it. It’s all based on the story and the character. I want to challenge myself to do many different things. I definitely don’t want to stay on one road, so I try to change it up.

You have signed on for Universal’s Hasbro action-figure adaptation of Stretch Armstrong, do you have any idea what your look will be like?

You know, they’re doing all of the designing and all that stuff right now. They’re writing the script and everything, so I haven’t seen any finalized version. But, chances are that it might be a little different from the figure.

Do you know what the back story is going to be like?

No. They’re not finished with the script yet. I think they should be shortly, so hopefully we’ll know soon. The cool thing with the toy is that there is no story. With a superhero, you have to stay along certain lines, but with a toy, you get to create everything, which is super-exciting and creative.

Since you have Abduction coming up, what makes a great action movie?

I think it’s the story that comes with the action. Abduction actually has an interesting story. It’s about a high school senior who finds a picture of himself on a missing persons’ web site only to realize that his whole life, for 18 years, has been a lie.

It can’t be nonsense action. The action has to make sense and have a story behind it. I’m super-excited to get going on that. I start in three weeks.